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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Dec 29th, 2015–Dec 30th, 2015

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Glacier.

Green doesn't always mean go. Small slabs and sluffs are possible. Keep them in mind if you venture into more aggressive terrain, where getting pushed around by a small slide could have serious consequences.

Weather Forecast

A high pressure system is drawing cold arctic air south. Today should be the coldest day, with temps from -10 to -18, but fortunately winds are expected to be light. Valley cloud should dissipate with lots of sun in the alpine. Wednesday will be similar. By Thursday, temps will start to warm up and alpine winds will increase to moderate N'ly.

Snowpack Summary

Cold temps are slowing the settlement of last weeks snow. 30-40cm of low density snow sits on a well settled mid pack. Moderate S'ly winds over the weekend shifted to N'ly yesterday, windloading the immediate lee of alpine features and creating pockets of very soft wind-slab.

Avalanche Summary

Yesterday, a skier accidentally triggered a size 1.5 avalanche on a W aspect at ~2200m while descending "NRC" on the Macdonald West Shoulder. It was a 20cm deep, very soft wind-slab. 7 size 1.5 to 2 natural avalanches were observed from steep N and S facing paths. There was also a size 2 deep slab avalanche when a glide crack released on a S aspect

Confidence

Problems

Wind Slabs

Wind Slab avalanches are the release of a cohesive layer of snow (a slab) formed by the wind. Wind typically transports snow from the upwind sides of terrain features and deposits snow on the downwind side. Wind slabs are often smooth and rounded and sometimes sound hollow, and can range from soft to hard. Wind slabs that form over a persistent weak layer (surface hoar, depth hoar, or near-surface facets) may be termed Persistent Slabs or may develop into Persistent Slabs.

Loose Dry

Loose Dry avalanches are the release of dry unconsolidated snow and typically occur within layers of soft snow near the surface of the snowpack. These avalanches start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-dry avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs.